The Fifth Bullet
The Fifth Bullet is the eleventh episode of of the second season of Castle. Summary A twist arises in the case of an art dealer found shot to death in his art gallery when a man with amnesia arrives at the station carrying a book with a bullet lodged in it that was fired from the same gun as was used in the murder. To solve the crime, Castle and Beckett have to jog his memory and unravel a possible connection to a high-level Arabian diplomat. Plot Detective Kate Beckett arrives at a crime scene to find Richard Castle enjoying the company of a dog. They discuss Beckett being Castle's "work wife" and the possibility of Castle getting a bloodhound to bring to crime scenes. They find the victim face down in a pool of blood. He is Victor Fink, 43, the owner of the art gallery where he was found. Lanie Parish informs them that he was shot twice in the back by a 9mm gun. The group find an interesting puzzle in that while five shell casings were found, they have only found four bullets- two in the victim and two embedded in the wall; where is the Fifth Bullet? Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan report that Fink received a phone call from a blocked phone number that originated in New York but was an international cell phone, registered to Bahrain Cellular. Ryan is then called away to assist with a man found outside the art gallery. He has no wallet, no id and episodic amnesia. They discover the amnesiac's name begins with J by his signature. While going through his belongings Castle and Ryan find their missing bullet- lodged in his copy of Crime and Punishment. Angelica Fink points the team to his old assistant Rocco Jones, who was fired two months ago. He revealed that Fink paid him to paint forgeries of high-end paintings which Fink would then sell as originals to Bahir Harun, an attaché at the Bahrain consulate. Unfortunately for the investigators, he has full diplomatic immunity. The next morning, a woman arrives claiming J is Joel Westchester, her husband of two years. J is ecstatic until he has an asthma attack while kissing her, revealing his allergy to cats. His supposed wife Tory Westchester, however, owns eight. They conclude she is not really married to J and find she has been in and out of mental institutions for ten years. Harun, the Bahrain attaché, comes down to the station. He reveals that Fink had called him the night of the latter's death, saying he had a painting for him, but when Harun arrived, Fink sent him away as he was arguing with someone. Although Harun did not know the reason for the argument, he identifies the other man as J. Castle works out that the dog he was playing with earlier belonged to J, as that is the reason for a grocery bag among his belongings and animal hairs that Lanie found on his coat. Castle and Beckett go to Animal Control to find the dog and discover J is Jeremy Prestwick, 34 years old and divorced. They call his ex-wife Emma Carnes into the station, who accompanies them to his apartment and identifies a painting as one that they bought on their honeymoon in Sienna. Jeremy was supposed to sell it as part of their divorce settlement, and she had received her half of the money. Just then, Beckett finds a 9mm gun in a filing cabinet with five bullets missing, which ballistics identifies as the one which killed Fink. Jeremy is arrested for Fink's murder. Beckett and Castle go back to Jeremy's apartment to get some personal closure and encounter the ex-wife who is collecting the dog's things. She tells them how she had entertained the idea of a second chance with Jeremy as he had kept the painting from their honeymoon, but the painting in his apartment is merely a copy, discernible as Jeremy had picked up the original while it was still wet, leaving a thumbprint in the paint. Castle and Beckett go to talk to Harun again. While searching his car, they find the original painting. He tells them that he had asked Fink to get him the original, which is why he had been at the gallery that night, and that Fink's new assistant Darius Langley had later sold him the painting. Darius is confronted by Castle and Beckett, who have a statement from the super at Jeremy's building- Darius had bribed him to let him in to switch the paintings. He then must have pocketed the money Fink had given him to buy it and shot both Fink and Jeremy. Further, Darius Langley is his roommate's name; his real name is George Heller and he has two previous convictions for forgery, which is why he couldn't afford to be found out. The subplot involves Martha Rodgers, Castle's mother, and her new-found love-life. She arrives home late and ecstatic the morning after spending the night with her high school sweetheart Chet Palaburn. That night, Castle arrives home to find his mother and daughter engaged in "sugar therapy" to cheer Martha up after she broke it off with Chet. After solving the case, Castle encourages Martha to give Chet a second chance, like Jeremy and his ex. Promo 500px|left Cast Main Cast *Nathan Fillion as Richard Castle *Stana Katic as Detective Kate Beckett *Jon Huertas as Detective Javier Esposito *Seamus Dever as Detective Kevin Ryan *Tamala R. Jones as Dr. Lanie Parish *Ruben Santiago-Hudson as Captain Roy Montgomery *Molly C. Quinn as Alexis Castle *Susan Sullivan as Martha Rodgers Guest Stars * Anne Dudek as Emma Carnes * Marc Blucas as Jeremy Prestwick * Phil LaMarr as Dr. Holloway * J.P. Pitoc as Darius Langley * Marisa Ramirez as Angelica Fink * Carlo Rota as Bahir Harun * Dahlia Salem as Tory Westchester * Rider Strong as Rocco Jones * Eltony Williams as Officer Marino * Desiree Taylor as Attendant * Courtney Geigle as Driver Featured Music *"All We Need Is Love" - Jenni Alpert *"Chin Up" - Amy Stroup 211 Category:Season 2